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The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was adopted nearly four years ago, yet its implementation in higher education is progressing slowly. This sluggish pace can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including political dynamics, the revolutionary departure from long-standing practices and practical issues in implementation. For instance, the introduction of the three-year/four-year undergraduate degree has become a political battleground, with state governments leveraging this aspect to demonstrate their allegiance or opposition to the central government. However, rather than delving into the political intricacies, it is crucial to examine some fundamental changes envisioned by NEP 2020 and identify the challenges hindering its swift implementation.

NEP 2020 emphasizes several transformative elements, such as fostering rootedness and pride in India, promoting local language and culture, enhancing life skills, encouraging multidisciplinarity, recognizing the unique capabilities of each student, positioning education as a public service rather than a for-profit activity, and placing teachers at the core of the education system. Many of these changes face significant hurdles in large-scale implementation due to a lack of practical understanding, insufficient experience, and the inertia of existing methods.

One of the key aspects of NEP 2020 is multidisciplinarity, which aims to integrate various disciplines of knowledge rather than treating them as separate, disjointed subjects. Multidisciplinary learning can make education more engaging, activity-based, and comprehensible. While foundational education (nursery/pre-primary) has seen promising advancements through the efforts of organizations like the Government of Delhi's SCERT and Vidya Bharathi’s Saraswati Vidya Mandir schools who have already developed and implemented multidisciplinary teaching and learning plans for foundational education, higher education institutions unfortunately have lagged behind.

In higher education, the implementation of multidisciplinarity is complex. It requires a detailed syllabus, comprehensive lesson plans, and an extensive network of syllabi that explain how each component of every course will be taught. For example, a market visit can cover various aspects such as organization, IT, mathematics, taxation, pricing, and inventory management. While specific learning outcomes from such visits can be outlined in lesson plans, integrating the entire syllabus of these diverse courses in a coherent manner remains a significant challenge for curriculum developers and educators. The demand for repeatability (scale) and standardization in education further complicates the implementation of multidisciplinary learning, necessitating considerable effort.

Each component of NEP 2020 requires meticulous research and carefully planned steps towards implementation. For instance, positioning education as a public service might necessitate changes in corporate taxation, rules for NGOs, or CSR guidelines. Similarly, promoting rootedness and pride in India involves integrating Indian knowledge systems (IKS) into the curriculum. Unfortunately, many universities have introduced IKS as a separate course rather than integrating it appropriately within a multidisciplinary framework.

Transitioning from a globally acclaimed policy to a functioning, dynamic system is a long and arduous journey. The successful implementation of NEP 2020 demands contributions from all stakeholders, including policymakers, educators, administrators, and the community at large. Only through collective effort can NEP 2020 be effectively realized within a reasonable timeframe.

Dr. G P Sudhakar
Honorary Professor, CESS

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